Outdoors

Sugarloaf opening for the season on Tuesday

CARRABASSETT VALLEY, Maine — Sugarloaf, Maine’s tallest winter resort and the largest ski area in the East, will kick off its 61st season on Tuesday at noon. The resort will open with a total of three trails covering 1,750 vertical feet, serviced by the SuperQuad chairlift.

Despite above-normal daytime temperatures over the past week, Sugarloaf was able to run as many as 110 snowguns during overnight hours and make enough snow to cover nearly three miles of terrain on the Tote Road trail. By opening tomorrow Sugarloaf will become just the fifth resort in the Northeast to open for the 2011-12 season.

Skiing and riding on opening day will be available on Pinch, Upper Tote Road, and Lower Tote Road, and is recommended for advanced skiers and riders only. Lift tickets will be just $29 for all ages.

“Temperatures haven’t been quite as low as we would have liked over the past two weeks, but our snowmakers are a hard working bunch and they’ve been able to take advantage of the cold overnight periods to get this place ready to go,” said Rich Wilkinson, Sugarloaf’s Vice President of Mountain Operations. “It’s always exciting to kick off the season, and we’re looking forward to seeing Sugarloafers back on the mountain.”

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During the offseason Sugarloaf invested roughly $4.3 million toward resort upgrades, including a brand new quad chairlift and more than 100 acres of new terrain in the Brackett Basin area. The new lift, called the Skyline Quad, takes the place of the Spillway East and West chairlifts, and is expected to open in early December.

The offseason upgrades are part of Sugarloaf’s ten-year development plan, called Sugarloaf 2020, which the resort unveiled in 2010. The 2020 vision includes plans for new lifts, and a massive, 650-acre expansion onto neighboring Burnt Mountain, making Sugarloaf the largest ski area east of the Rocky Mountains.